TMAC the point forward? (rafer the backup playmaker?)

Luther at point is a bad idea. For a 6'4 NBA guard, he's a mediocre ball handler. Decent at best. He struggles to bring the ball up the court when being pressured. Head is at his best when he's freeing up to find a pass and shoot. He's also a decent cutter but hes not a point.

 

I think the intention of txppratt is to let tracy handle the ball as a point foward and let luther gaurd the oppossing point gaurds.

Sorry txpratt but your about to get pulverized soon enough by other posters. I personally think this will work because we can still limit tracy's time at the point. He can be point gaurd for lets say 10 minutes and 25 minutes wingman.

 

NO!....

 

9 & 4, why change?

 

Great point, but most of the time when i use records people bust out with the "its how we won those games" crap.

 

He can't be ball-handler from start to finish, he'll be tired as ***.

He is not productive for long minutes and early game. (no, he isn't. no, they are same)

wtf? rafer is shooting 40% behind the arc. u ever watch the game?

afraid u r alone on that one =)

 

He doesn't have to be. Starting as the ballhandler does not mean he has to do it the whole game. Remember Rafer would be on the bench.

Luther does have better D than Alston...He doesn't stand there and let the opposing point fire away. I saw too much of that in the washington game.

Yeah your right. haha.

Yeah txppratt, you are alone cause we're winning. No need for adjustments.

 

I'm with everyone else here...you need a traditional point guard...did you not see how well Skip pushed the ball last night on the heels of the defenders and even attacked the rim more. I think he has to be told to stay aggressive but he's handling himself well...hit his first shot and played a good game (didn't shoot overall well @ 4 of 10 but played with confidence).

We need Mac fresh for the 4th Qtr (winnin' time) and it would be absolutely crazy to wear him down bringing the ball upcourt to get into their half court set...so forget it cause it ain't going to happen!

This team is just getting better and better because they are getting rotations set and know how to handle themselves under pressure by playing to their strengths and making the opponent to adjust.

 

One constant on this year's team has been the fact that we have had four set starters (Yao, T-Mac, Battier, Alston) playing around 35-47 minutes a night. JVG is obviously comfortable with this group out on the floor so much so I doubt that is about to change.

IMO, the real question is who will be this mystery 5th starter once everybody is back, healthy and ready to play.

 

Because the starting five that we have now is playing great!

But I have seen JVG put three guards on the floor if the matchup warrants it.

 

Actually Van Gundy does use this line-up, usually when he is resting Rafer, it's just not the starting line-up.

 

No. Luther didn't even start in Illinois I believe. He's well suited off the bench. He still plays a lot of minutes. He likes his role. Everyone's happy.

 

Rafer's assist numbers tell you he is doing nothing more than bringing the ball across half court and then giving it to Tmac. I think he is the best ballhandler on the team by far but that isn't a skill he is really utilizing in this offense.

Head is a competent enough ball handler that he could step in for Rafer. Head is also a better shooter, defender and cutter. Hell, you could even argue (but I probably wouldn't) at this point that VSpan is good enough to do the starting PG job. Vspan is somewhere in between Rafer and Head when it comes to ball handling. His shot is worse than both but his defense is light years ahead either guy.

Now with all that said, I say if it ain't broke then don't fix it. 9-4 ain't exactly broke. Also, Rafer seems to be thrown out of sync very easily. I think his confidence and then his game would erode significantly if he were to lose his starting job.

 

Shuffle the starting lineup?

Why in the world would you want to do that?

Seriously. It's nice to see a lot more optimism around the BBS lately, but every now and then some malcontent comes up with a ridiculous suggestion like this.

 

i think it will work for parts of the game. u can't have tmac handing all game, that'll wear him out. but at times it will impact a game if we bring on a more consistent shooter and mix it up a little.

Head can defend better then Alston, but Alston can run plays better then head. When tmac is in play maker mode bring head on for more shooting and defence.

 

I would not mess with a successful starting lineup until I had some great data to show an alternative was better. I do find it odd that the Rockets play very limited minutes with the lineup Head-McGrady-Battier-Hayes-Yao. This lineup would put a lot of pressure on McGrady to keep offense flowing and it does not give the starters much rest if used a lot.

 

NO!... how long was pistons starting 5 started??.. I lost count...

This is chemistry we are talking about... during their championship years... billup could throw passes with his eyes closed coz he knew exactly where his man will be.... partly they started together for ages...

 

Because that defeats the whole purpose of having other teams having a hard time stopping both Yao AND McGrady. If you put McGrady on the bench as the 6th man, this will benefit other teams because now they can focus their energy on stopping only Yao. Same for when McGrady comes in and Yao goes out. So no, you can't have just Yao start the game and expect just him to dominate or vice versa